The Naval Ships Memorial Monument built by public subscription, on land provided by the City of Burlington was unveiled on the 50th Anniversary of VE Day. The Royal Canadian Naval Association Burlington Branch, unveiled the Naval Ships' Memorial Monument, May 14, 1995, with approximately 5,000 spectators, including over 1,000 veterans in attendance.
The memorial is dedicated to the memory of the 31 warships and the 2024 Naval Personnel of the Royal Canadian Navy and the 75 ships and 1466 merchant seamen of the Canadian Merchant Navy who were lost during the Second World War.
The Naval monument has three components. The main component is the memorial cairn listing on the front face the names of 31 war ships of the Royal Canadian Navy and the date they were lost. Also, shown is the lost 2024 Naval Personnel and 1466 Merchant Seamen. The second component topping the cairn a six foot bronze statue of a Canadian Seaman in the rig of the day saluting his lost shipmates (titled "The Salute"). The main remembrance wall along the rear of the monument lists all the warships that served in the Royal Canadian Navy. On the rear of the remembrance wall are listed the names of the 370 ships that served in the Canadian Merchant Army. The Bell of H.M.C.S. Burlington is mounted atop the centre column of the ships remembrance wall. Directly behind the wall are four 25 foot flagpoles flying the flags of Canada, the province of Ontario, the White Ensign of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939 to 1945 and the Red Ensign of the Canadian Merchant Navy 1939 to 1945.
The monument is lit by floodlight every night. The Cairn and the memorial wall are Cambrian Black Granite. All of the ships' names are sand blasted in and painted gold. The deck is blue marble, with black trim. The size is 14 feet wide by 16 feet deep. On each side of the memorial are two flower beds with two benches.
Funding for this Naval monument came from club members, many Royal Canadian Legions in Ontario, cities and towns in Canada that have a ship named after their city, and many residents of all areas and from all parts of Canada, and local business and service clubs. There were over 415 individuals who contributed directly to the memorial building fund as well as literally thousands who donated cash in the many malls and shopping plazas, where fundraising displays were set up. The funds for the monument were raised in ten months and a small surplus accrued, which started the Perpetual Care Trust, so that the memorial can be maintained. From start to finish it took 22 months to complete the monument.
The memorial is located near the willow trees in Spencer Smith Park. If you served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, your ship's name is on the remembrance wall.